DirecTV Theatens To Boot Fox Cable Channels Over Contract Dispute

The beauty of signing up subscribers to two-year contracts is you can threaten networks to yank their channels off the air without worrying about anyone canceling their service. Engaged in contact negotiations with DirecTV, Fox says the satellite provider has rejected its latest offer and threatened to pull its programming off the service Nov. 1 if Fox doesn’t accept its terms.

Deadline reports the contract between the two parties expired Sept. 30. At risk are the 19 regional Fox sports networks and an array of other channels including FX, National Geographic, Speed.

From Fox’s statement:

DirecTV sent us a proposal on Tuesday afternoon. They have given us no chance to respond before taking an unnecessarily aggressive posture and going public. It is disappointing that they have chosen bad faith tactics over meaningful negotiation.